Perception entails the potential of capturing, processing, and actively making sense of a particular information that the senses always receive. However, perception is regarded as a fundamental cognitive process that provides a significant opportunity for human beings to interpret a piece of particular information sensitively. As such, perception is described as a cognitive process because people are fond of consciously and unconsciously interpreting information developed through thoughts, reactions, and opinions. Perception is always influenced by various factors, for instance, motivations, attitudes, interests, behavior, and expectations. Numerous authors and researchers have studied perception as a cognitive process and how certain factors manipulate it. Although most of the extensive research has discussed the aspect of perception, some gaps exist in understanding how some of these factors influence perception. This presentation aims to explore the summary of the research investigation, identify gaps in the research that needs to be addressed, the future of the research, and its benefit in psychology.
The research investigation primarily focuses on exploring perception as a cognitive process, including the factors influencing perceptions, for example, culture, emotions, attitudes, expectations, and motivation. The gap identified in the research is the necessity of gaining insights into perceptions, such as cultural dimensions (Schilhab & Esbensen, 2019). However, throughout the research, it will encompass an evaluation of the existing literature about perception from varying perspectives. For example, sensory input, visual narratives, ethical decision-making, computational modeling, attention retention theory, and cultural dimension of perception (Schilhab & Esbensen, 2019). The research design employed is the evaluation of peer-reviewed and current studies to identify the existing gaps and develop alternatives to bridge the identified gaps.
Regarding the gap of lack of understanding about the cultural dimension as a factor that influences perception, there is a need for the gap to be addressed instantly. However, the gap needs to be addressed in future research since culture is a delicate factor that shapes people’s perceptions. As such, culture is considered significant universally because it takes diverse forms across space and time. Reference research indicates that people’s backgrounds and origin should influence how they perceive sensory input, which depicts the distinction between informed decision-making and cognitive process (Bender & Beller, 2013). According to research, it is confirmed that cultural dimensions influence attention and visual perception hence altering interpretations and cognitive representations. In the latest research about culture in visual perception, researchers have found a reinforcement of the hypotheses. As such, collectivist cultures are manipulated by environmental contextual visual information compared to individualistic cultures (Ehsan et al., 2019). Therefore, understanding the essence of culture in perception is important since it helps gain comprehensive and more impactful insights into cognitive processes.
Following the claims of the authors from the presented research, it strives for the need for future research to consider the function of culture in perception. Loschky et al.’s article depict evidence that perception is affected by cultural factors (Loschky et al., 2020). Cultural differences manipulate perception by generating lived experiences that explain particular behaviors, beliefs, values, and communication. These factors alter how people perceive and portray the universe around them. The author emphasizes different cultures’ effects on visual narrative perception. In the article” Socio-cultural Influences on Situated Cognition in Nature,” the author claims that perception centrally relies on the attention affected by cultural experiences (Schilhab & Esbensen, 2019). The article elucidates that attention is essential in materiality perception, showing the aspect that a person attends and the process. The author further explains that cultural experiences affect materiality perception, whereby values and norms determine an individual’s perception. Therefore, the findings support the notion that culture determines perception and should be prioritized in future research.
Based on the proposed research, it has a significant position in psychology. However, according to the proposed research, the essence of culture in perception impacts psychology in various dimensions. The research helps the identified gap to be addressed accordingly in alignment with providing significant insights on perception being a cognitive process(Lieberman, 2005). Secondly, the proposed research is important to the field of psychology, such that it expounds on understanding how culture shapes perception and cognitive processes. As such, the research helps to determine how people of varying cultures interpret and perceive the world (Reynolds, 2006). Finally, the derived findings from the proposed research provide practical implications for education that offer an opportunity to create cultural strategies.
In conclusion, the presented research investigation focuses on the factors affecting perception, specifically cultural dimensions. However, the research posits that people from different backgrounds have varying perceptions and how they interpret the world around them. The factors that affect perception provide more understanding of how individuals interpret and make sense of information. The gap identified in the presented research investigation is the need for understanding how cultural dimension affects perception. The gap should be addressed in future research to develop more knowledge on how culture affects perception. To recap, the claims presented by the authors in their studies provide a basis to support the role of culture in perception, more so the benefits of the research investigation in psychology.
References
Bender, A., & Beller, S. (2013). Cognition is Fundamentally Cultural. Behavioral Sciences, 3(1), 42–54. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs3010042
Ehsan, U., Tambwekar, P., Chan, L., Harrison, B., & Riedl, M. (2019). Automated Rationale Generation: A Technique for Explainable AI and its Effects on Human Perceptions. ArXiv (Cornell University). https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1901.03729
Lieberman, M. D. (2005). Principles, processes, and puzzles of social cognition: An introduction for the special issue on social cognitive neuroscience. NeuroImage, 28(4), 745–756. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.07.028
Loschky, L. C., Larson, A. M., Smith, T. J., & Magliano, J. P. (2020). The Scene Perception & Press, C., Kok, P., & Yon, D. (2020). The perceptual prediction paradox. https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12455
Reynolds, S. J. (2006). A neurocognitive model of the ethical decision-making process: Implications for study and practice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(4), 737–748. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.91.4.737
Schilhab, T., & Esbensen, G. L. (2019). Socio-Cultural Influences on Situated Cognition in Nature. Frontiers in Psychology, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00980
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